The Star-News

The South Bay League cross country finals are three weeks away and the Sweetwater High School boys team doesn’t appear to be slowing down. The Red Devils recorded a meteoric fourth-place finish at this year’s Jaguar Invitational to further demonstrate they are going to be a factor in post-season competition.

Sweetwater finished with 97 points at the Oct. 21 event, held at Kit Carson Park in Escondido. The Devils finished 12 points behind third place Westview in the Large School varsity field and just 13 points behind second place Woodbridge.

Mt. Carmel won the division with a meet-low 50 points.

George Martinez led SuHi with a 10th-place finish among individuals, timing 16:50 on the 5K course. Carlos Ponce was the Devils’ second runner, finishing 16th in the field of 116 runners in 17:05.

Sweetwater’s five-man spread was 40 seconds. Abinadi Castellanos finished 18th in 17:07 as the Devils’ third scorer, while Gerrardo Manquillo was 27th in 17:25 and Elias Amador was 31st in 17:30.

Bonita Vista’s Caesar Castillo finished fifth in 16:31 as the top Metro Conference placer but the Barons did not enter enough runners to score as a team. Christian Kelley was 43rd in 17:47 while BV teammate Kevin Yen was 45th in 17:49. Christian Gutierrez was 47th in 17:52, also for the Barons.

In the 2.6-mile girls varsity race, Sweetwater’s top runner, Amparo Gavrain, finished 52nd in the field of 110 runners in 17:44.

In the Small School girls varsity race, Castle Park’s Keeshawna Jackson finished 14th in the 135-deep field to lead the Trojans to a ninth place team finish. Amanda Cason was 25th in 18:17, followed by CP teammates Aurea Obeso (60th, 19:09), Brianna Diaz (87th, 20:10) and Nina Ni (88th, 20:110.

Montgomery, led by Kristine Jao (27th, 18:20) and Ivette Larios (32nd, 18:26), finished 11th in the team standings, followed by Olympian (13th).

Olympian’s Kioana Smith was the top Metro finisher in the race, placing eighth in 17:34.

Mar Vista’s Karly Tena finished 10th in 17:43.

In the Small School boys varsity race, Montgomery’s Alejandro Rosario finished 32nd in 18:10 to lead the Aztecs to a 14th-place finish among 22 scoring teams. Mar Vista was 15th, Southwest was 17th, Olympian was 19th and San Ysidro was 20th.

Castle Park was sixth and Mater Dei Catholic was seventh in the Small School JV girls race.

The San Diego Section finals are scheduled Nov. 19 at Morley Field, followed by the state championship met Nov. 26 in Fresno.